Nine teens charged in bullying suicide

It may be a parent problem, but the parent's don't necessarily know that their kids are calling some girl a whore at school.

If the teachers or administrators hear that or the girl complains, the teachers/administrators need to take action and be serious.

You can't rely on the hope that the parents of the name-caller are going to take it seriously.

 

So you'll put it on their permanent record?
That'll stop it. A lot of bullies have no college aspirations. Hell, my bully in middle school was a cop's son. Somehow, I doubt a police report would have gone very far.

 

And he's probably a cop now so he can continue to bully people.

 

I hate cop's kids. One actually ratted me out to the cops once.

 

Not sure what his day job is, but I know he and his brother are regulars on the small-time racing circuit (legends cars, midgets, that sort of thing) on the East Coast.
I'd love to pour some sugar in that fucker's gas tank before a race.
Sugar and a stick of dynamite.

 

Ace - I've felt bullied by you and your henchmen since I've joined SJ. Thank God that 21 took pity and invited me to have lunch at her table.

 

That's a lie. I cannot afford henchmen. Best I can do is lackeys.

 

Most bullies do have college aspirations, actually.

Bullying has changed. It's not Meathead behind the school anymore. It's kids who, in some circumstances, aren't acting out the classic bullying archetype so much as revealing a really warped (and I'd argue sophisticated) value system.

 

Correct. In this case, it wasn't Biff waiting at the water cooler to punch someone. It was mostly girls (and the guys who love them) targeting someone they felt was a threat to their turf.

 

In the case of Phoebe Prince, the only reason I can think the DA did NOT file criminal charges against anyone at school for blowing off complaints is because it would be so hard to get a conviction.

And speaking of parents, a mother of one of the "Mean Girls," says, what's the big deal?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/30/2010-03-30_mom_of_teen_charged_with_bullying_south_hadley_hs_student_phoebe_prince_into_sui.html

The mother of one of the "Mean Girls" charged with bullying 15-year-old Phoebe Prince to death defended her daughter Tuesday, saying she never lifted a hand against the tormented girl but just "called her names."

Angeles Chanon admitted that her daughter, Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, had once been suspended from school for verbally abusing Phoebe - but blamed the bullied girl for starting it.

"(Sharon) exchanged a couple of words with her," Chanon told the Boston Herald. "Phoebe was calling her names. They're teenagers. They call names."

Chanon insisted her daughter never "physically assaulted" Phoebe, no matter what the District Attorney says.

"I know she knows better than that. I wouldn't accept that," she said.



What ding-dong mom doesn't get is that constant harassment -- yes, name-calling, can be just as bad, or worse. If it was one incident, or occasional run-ins, that's one thing. But this was a concentrated, extended period of harassment. And it's criminal and unacceptable even if Phoebe Prince didn't kill herself.

 

Maybe I'm being too picky here, but shouldn't the lead be reworked to specify that they weren't charged with "coercion" or anything else related specifically to the suicide?

 

All I can say is good. I hope they rot and a message is sent.

It is tough to say the teachers or the parents failed more, end of the day they both failed miserably.

You don't have to resort to corpral punishment - you suspend kids (none of that in-school suspension crap), you get the cops involved, and if that fails you boot them out.
And any parent that says, oh it just kids being kids, needs to pull their head out of their ass. Little Johnny or little Suzie is not a complete angel and may in fact be a complete piece of shit that needs to be dealt with and disciplined and probably at the very least needs some counselling.